By Chris J. Walker
To some Jazz is Dead is a proclamation about the supposedly declining state of jazz, or the group of dynamos, bassist Alphonso Johnson, keyboardist T Lavitz, guitarist Jimmy Herring and drummer Billy Cobham who played fusion versions of Grateful Dead songs in the ‘90s. For millennials and some Gen Z’ers, Jazz is Dead, formed in 2020 by Adrian Younge, and Ali Shaheed Muhammad from the ground breaking hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest, is a record label and movement.
Younge in LA and Muhammad in Brooklyn, started out as DJ’s in the 90’s and individually worked with a variety of groups and solo artists, to become high-caliber producers, composers and multi-instrumentalists. The duo’s first collaborations began in 2016 with The Midnight Hour project that later came out in 2018. Their efforts with other associates, Andrew Lojero, Adam Block and Art Don’t Sleep broadened to producing concerts, analog recordings and happenings celebrating the music of their heroes. Among them were Roy Ayers, Lonnie Liston Smith, Jean Carne and Tony Allen, along with Brazilian innovators João Donato, Hyldon, Marcos Valle, and the band Azymuth.
At CSUN’s Soraya concert hall, the highly prolific Younge’s music was showcased, and for the first time he performed with a full orchestra (half were campus students). The special event was part of the venue’s four-part/month-long LA Seen series highlighting Los Angeles’s diverse and creative arts institutions. The polymath’s acumen for film/TV scoring and composing gained notoriety through Black Dynamite, a 2009 parody of Blaxploitation films of the ‘70s. That led to him working on other films and TV scores and winning an Emmy for Outstanding Music Direction and Composition for the Apple TV+ series Home.
Regarding the concert, introduced and hosted by Muhammad, focused mostly on Younge’s Something About April trilogy. Several songs from the third installment were also debuted and entirely in Portuguese. The first record of the grouping was released in 2011 and depicted the obsession, ecstasy, fear and anguish of an illicit and interracial love affair. Essentially, the series is heavily influenced by the acclaimed Ennio Morricone’s film scoring and the Delfonics’ velvety R&B music, with psychedelic flair. Most importantly, the bassist/composer’s April albums have been a sampling source for top hip-hop artists/producers such as Jay-Z, Common and Kendrick Lamar.
Younge, as would be expected was very excited about the concert and decked out in a paisley suit. After about 12 minutes of ceremonial intros and some minor technical issues, he began to soar with the orchestra that included details about his career that were both self-congratulatory and inspiring. The sound was a bouillabaisse of Morricone, J Dilla, Isaac Hayes, Curtis Mayfield, Emuir Deodato, Bob James and even Mulatu Astatke, the father of Ethio-jazz. Handling vocals for the monumental occasion was the bandleader’s longtime associate, Loren Oden, with soulful backing from Rebecca Englehardt, Natália Spadini and Stephània Pourgouri.
Sky-soaring and grooving instrumental “Reverie” from the first April album was the opening symphonic soul jam, illuminating keyboardist Sam Reid, violaist Manoela Wunder, violinist Tylana Renga Enomoto, trumpeter Serafin Aguilar, and saxophonist Alicia Camiña Ginés. She additionally launched into a heated call and response interlude with the audience to further heighten the selection.
One of the most astounding songs during the near two-hour program, was the pairing of Oden with opera singer Brooke deRosa. She’s also on the first April record and their rendering of the theme song was spellbinding and took things to a much higher level. “Hey Lover” from Roy Ayers collab record was wrought with jazzy soul from Oden and the backup singing crew. It segued into the Portuguese-sung “A Música Na Minha Fantasia” from April III.
Additionally, Younge’s Brazilian actress/comedian/singer/writer colleague Samantha Schmütz joined him for the similar themed “After Love” from their upcoming project. Another joint from the ever-busy producer/musician was “Amor Enfeitiçado” featuring Carlos Dafé, called the Brazilian “Prince of Soul” with Oden gallantly singing his part. For the encore, an extended version of “Sound of a Man” from the first album intensively reverberated with the lead singer’s soul-drenched falsetto, serenading chorus and the bandleader’s dramatic orchestration to draw fervent crowd reactions. For more info go to: www.jazzisdead.com and thesoraya.org
Trumpeter and film composer Terence Blanchard, a multi Grammy and Academy Award-winner, and also a Emmy winner, along with being a newly appointed NEA Jazz Master abounds with creativity. He typically has delivered more than expected throughout his career. His performance at CSUN’s Soraya Theatre was a perfect example. It was two-fer or three-fer, if one wants to be technical and featured the trumpeter’s ground-breaking operas, compositions and his E-Collective fusion band with the Turtle Island String Quartet.
Champion, Blanchard’s first opera with libretto by Pulitzer Prize-winning Michael Cristofer opened in St. Louis in 2013 and ten years later was featured at New York City’s renowned Metropolitan Opera. It depicted the life of prize fighter Emile Griffith, whose opponent Benny “The Kid” Paret was knocked out by him and died 10 days after their title bout on March 24,1962. It strongly affected Griffith’s boxing career and his bi-sexual personal life.
Fire Shut Up in My Bones with libretto by Kasi Lemmons, opened the Metropolitan’s 2021–2022 season. The work was based on the 2014 same titled memoir by Charles Blow, former New York Times columnist and MSNBC Commentator, and now a newly appointed Langston Hughes Fellow in the W. E. B. Du Bois Research Institute at Harvard University. As a child he was sexually assaulted by his cousin. That dramatically impacted him and as a young man in college he sought enact a violent revenge, but experienced a spiritual and social awakening before he was about to confront his cousin.
Uniquely, Blanchard was the first Black composer to have an opera performed at the Metropolitan Opera, and additionally the first living composer since Richard Strauss to have two operas premiere in successive seasons at the venue. Blanchard’s Northridge performance of the operas was without, actors, costumes and sets. Instead, visuals excerpts from the full operas were shown along with inserted camera shots of the musicians, and singers. They were soprano Adrienne Danrich and baritone Justin Austin, who made their Soraya debuts and were magnificent.
Celestial-like jazz grooves from the composer’s 2004 album Flow, produced by Herbie Hancock, who was in attendance, got things rolling. Blanchard’s E-Collective band members, Charles Altura-guitar, Victor Gould-keyboards, Dale Black-bass and Oscar Seaton-drums jammed away intensely the title track, while “Benny’s Tune” was played more serenely. The bandleader was in great form musically and in good spirits socially. He had the audience laughing when he recalled Hancock telling the band to make something up during the sessions for 20-year old CD, and that wouldn’t be singing for the operas.
Blanchard’s longtime string quartet collaborators, consisting of violinist David Balakrishnan, violinist Gabriel Terracciano, violaist Mads Tolling and cellist Naseem Alatrash superbly performed with him, band, and the opera singers. Champion was showcased first with Austin and Danrich both stirringly singing solely initially and later powerfully together to convey boxer Griffith’s painful plight.
After the intermission, Fire Shut Up in My Bones continued the program with even more engrossing singing and musical accompaniment to dramatically exhibit Blow’s disparity, fear, isolation and triumphant resolution to garner an enthusiastic standing ovation. Following the operas, Blanchard and his players wrapped things up with a new cool grooving and lightly funky fused tune, “Sprocket” that was written for Hancock. For more info go to: www.terenceblanchard.com and thesoraya.org.
With a devotion to exploration in a variant of settings and genres, guitarist/oud player Gordon Grdina, based in Vancouver has ascended as an adventurous, yet also very knowledgeable musical spirit due to his extensive study of the oud. His efforts have garnered Juno Awards and nominations, along with top polling for oud in the U.S. through mainstream jazz, free-form improvisation and Arabic classical music recordings.
In 2024, the Canadian combined free jazz and raucous rock jamming that was a mix of Ornette Coleman, Nels Cline, Metallica and prog rock for the album Duo Work with German drummer Krischen Lillinger. Grdina and the drummer started working together in 2017 for the Live album of Grdina’s Project Square Peg with Shahzad Ismaily-bass/synth and Mat Maneri-viola. The guitarist/oud player and the drummer continued to collaborate afterwards for the bandleader’s assorted projects.
In support of Grdina and Lillinger’s first duo recording they have been doing limited touring and turned up at the High Low Bar in Atwater Village for its Music Mondays series with bassist Tim Lefebvre joining in. For a little over 50 minutes the trio with like-minded guitarist Jeff Parker in attendance, journeyed into a high octane mixture of metal, fusion and world music powered by hard-hitting drumming, snarly guitar runs and rumbling deep toned bass.
The sonic maelstrom was totally improvised with no breaks or back announcements to provide relief for the capacity crowd. They, for most part hung tight and got energy from the musicians and in turn sent it back to them. However, that wasn’t the case for Lillinger, who intensely drummed nonstop, with his exhaustion ending the set.
Alto saxophonist Alden Hellmut opened with a less piercing, but still very spontaneous mix of free jazz, world and electronics, featuring Sharada Shashidhar-vocals, Davin Givhan-guitar and a friend adding effects and looping textures. For more info go to: gordongrdina.bandcamp.com, www.aldenhellmuth.com and thehighlowbar.com.
Blurring the lines between jazz, opera, classical and spirituals is vocalist Janinah Burnette. The soprano has been on the Metropolitan Opera’s roster of principal singers, performed around the country in operas and theatre. She’s also been in films, including Spike Lee’s Red Hook Summer, on TV CBS’ FBI, and is on faculty at the University of North Carolina. At Boston Court as part of Just Jazz’s concert series with LeRoy Downs as the emcee, she was backed by Bobby Rodriguez-piano, Terreon Gully-drums/producer and fellow faculty member Steve Haines-bass.
Burnette, donning a beautiful designer dress, shot out of the gate, soaring operatically and jazzily for “Creole Girl,” composed by H. Leslie Adams, an African-American trail-blazer in Western Classical music, as the backing trio blazed away. Somewhat similar was the headliner’s very creative mashing of a tantalizing aria from Bizet’s Carmen with a loungey/samba take on Cole Porter’s “What is This Thing Called Love.” “E Lucevan le Stelle (And The Stars Were Shining)” from Puccini’s Tosca was pure classical opera with the soprano’s breathtaking singing and Rodriguez’s radiant playing stunningly taking the audience to the Met in New York.
In the mode of spirituals, Burnette regally showcased “Keep Your Eyes on The Prize” and juxtaposed the lyrics of “Freedom Song” and “Hold On,” with only Haines supplely accompanying her as the audience clapped along. “Heaven” from Ellington’s Sacred Concert series was incredibly sung by her and definitely religious. Capping off the spirituals and related songs was the powerfully moving “Strange Fruit.” It featured Burnette’s longtime friend, rising star singer Tamara Jade, whom she met during their youthful years at Harlem’s Abyssinian Baptist Church. Jade outstandingly sung conventionally, while the main singer soared operatically to amaze the crowd.
From more of a jazz perspective, Burnette served up a contemporary/grooving version of Fats Waller “Honeysuckle Rose” and an interpretation of “All of Me” bolstered by her sultry singing and long phrasing that excited the crowd. Burnette also lushly turned in a flowing rendering of the Ellington classic “In a Sentimental Mood.” The bassist’s original “Speak to Me” was an inviting ballad, exhibiting passionate and traditional styled singing.
During the closing moments of the enlightening concert, Burnette boldly showed off her jazz cred by swinging and scatting extraordinarily for “How High The Moon.” She closed with the inspirational Donny Hathaway song “Someday We’ll All Be Free” that was garnered with exceptional playing from the trio to draw a very adoring standing ovation. For more info go to: www.janinahburnett.com, www.justjazz.tv and bostoncourtpasadena.org.
Much like So Cal’s pianist/arranger/educator Billy Childs, alto saxophonist Miguel Zenón is a Grammy Award-winner, a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and Doris Duke Artist Award, and an educator. The Puerto Rican-born artist, who also has received a MacArthur Fellowship is a trail blazing player. He has recorded at least 15 albums as a leader and has been on over 100 as a sideman.
At the Moss Theatre, part of “Moveable the Jazz Bakery’s Feast series, Zenón appeared with his quartet that included Henry Cole-drums, Hans Glawischnig-bass and Luis Perdomo-piano. They got things started with a riveting post-bop tribute to Arsenio Rodriguez. He was a Cuban composer/bandleader/tres player who established the frame work for modern salsa.
Afterwards the quartet slowed things down a little with a lightly pulsating Latin jazz piece that showcased the saxophonist’s talents and boundless energy for impressive rhythmic runs and solos. Pianist Perdomo, who shares a Grammy with the saxophonist for El Arte Del Bolero Vol. 2 also had the audience spellbound with his wizardly off-kilter playing. They continued with other original compositions from a new, yet to released album that were equally dazzling and daring.
Overall, all the music performed by the quartet were an incredible representation of modern Latin jazz that skillfully meshed Zenón’s Puerto Rican folk tradition roots with jazz and Latin jazz sensibilities. The saxophonist and his high-caliber sidemen are unquestionably at the forefront of intelligent and always adventurous jazz. Be sure to catch them the next time they come to So Cal. For more info go to: miguelzenon.com and www.jazzbakery.org.
Larkin Poe, comprised of Georgia-born, Nashville-based sisters, lead singer/guitarist Rebecca Lovell and lap steel/dobro/vocalist Megan Lovell with their backing the band, Lucas Pessy-keyboards, Tarka Layman-bass, and Benjamin Satterlee-drums came to the Fonda Theatre to highlight their ninth and latest release Bloom. The Grammy-winning sisters, 36 year-old Megan and 34 year old Rebecca have playing together for over 20 years and began with older sister Jessica as the acoustic/blue grass oriented Lovell Sisters. After the trio disbanded in 2010, the younger siblings formed their own band, named after their great-great-great-great grandfather, a distant cousin of Edgar Allan Poe and went into more of a Southern hard-rocking/blues direction.
In Los Angeles, as part of the group’s nine-month long tour, the women began wailing with the assaulting “Nowhere Fast” from their latest album and injected more excitement by stopping momentarily to have the audience shout loudly. In the vein of Southern rock bands, the Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, ZZ Top and The Marshall Tucker Band were new songs “Easy Love Pt. 1” and ballad “Mocking Bird.”
The swashbuckling guitarist/singers touted their ripping slide and blasting guitar skills through older songs “Summertime Sunset” and “Kick the Blues.” Rock styles from the 70’s also dominated the sisters’ sound and shone brightly for Led Zeppelin-styled “Bad Spell’ and new tune “Bluephoria.” Coinciding with the song was the groups’ Blues Babies theme that included denim clothing hand-sewn by Megan for the band.
Front person Rebecca, the more outgoing sister with a strong stage presence, announced that her son would be born in July as they shifted to a gentler acoustic segment. It seemed to be better received than the electric songs. Among them were the harmoniously sung and slide guitar (dobro) infused “Southern Comfort,” lively “God Moves on the Water” in relation to natural disasters such as the LA fires and gorgeously sung “Mad as a Hatter” with Rebecca wailing on mandolin. For even more variety and fun, John Denver’s “Thank God I’m a Country Boy” was thrown in and inspired the crowd to sing along.
Returning to amplified instrumentation, the ladies jammed with swampy “Deep Stays Down,” and new classic rocker “Little Bit” was graced with their melodic vocals and slide guitar flailed for “If God is a Woman.” Digging into their catalogue was the older and wicked “Wanted Woman” and George Thorogood & The Destroyer-sounding “Bolt Cutters & The Family Name.”
For the encore the sisters treated the crowd to their sweet harmony sung “Bloom Again.” The anthem-like song was inspired by the Everly Brothers and suggested to them by Tom Petty’s co-writing partner, Mike Campbell. Opening for Larkin Poe was singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Parker Millsap, who got the audience worked up with a fervid mix of blues, country, rock, Americana, and folk music. For more info go to: www.larkinpoe.com, www.parkermillsap.com and www.fondatheatre.com.
For a special tour not associated with any current recording projects or promotions, pianist Brad Mehldau, bassist Christian McBride, and drummer Marcus Gilmore performed together at the Orpheum Theatre. The pianist and bassist considered to be among their generation’s most influential players are long-time occasional collaborators, whose careers took flight during the early ‘90s. Gilmore, on the other hand is the legendary and recently departed drummer Roy Haynes’ grandson and has been recognized for his stellar work with an array of visionary artists. Among them are Vijay Iyer, Jason Moran, Chick Corea, Nicholas Payton, Steve Coleman, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, and Ravi Coltrane.
Contrarily, the trio’s concert, their first, could hardly be considered threshold pushing and instead leaned more to being pastoral and sometimes melodic, with small doses of rhythm or swing. Nonetheless, Mehldau, McBride and Gilmore’s intermingling was definitely not lightweight or ethereal. The pianist, highly erudite in both classical and jazz formats, along with the acclaimed eight-time Grammy-winning bassist and the extremely versatile drummer performed a balance of savory and cerebral originals (all Mehldau’s), standards and a pop/rock cover.
Contrarily, the trio’s concert, their first, could hardly be considered threshold pushing and instead leaned more to being pastoral and sometimes melodic, with small doses of rhythm or swing. Nonetheless, Mehldau, McBride and Gilmore’s intermingling was definitely not lightweight or ethereal. The pianist, highly erudite in both classical and jazz formats, along with the acclaimed eight-time Grammy-winning bassist and the extremely versatile drummer performed a balance of savory and cerebral originals (all Mehldau’s), standards and a pop/rock cover.
Much like his low key demeanor, Mehldau didn’t come out blazing with a barrage of assaulting phases, and alternately presented an even-flowing cascade of effervescent rhythms and motifs for his neo-bop/pastoral 2012 “Aquaman.” The tune escalated when McBride injected scorching bass lines as Gilmore coolly supported them. Vastly different and leaning to a blend of Monk and Vince Guaraldi with remarkable piano runs, and engaging bass/drums call and response were the brand-new numbers “Squirrels” and “Gravy Train.” They both swung intelligently and intensely with dashes of blues and bebop to draw strong audience response.
Surprisingly, the pianist got a little a political (blame it on the chaotic times) when introducing another new piece “In The Bubble” that was adorned with Ahmad Jamal modal touches as a safe space. He elaborated by saying jazz could be compared to democracy, but also said he liked anarchy (controlled), in which everyone agrees to not be assholes. For some equilibrium, “Codex” a comparatively complex very post-bob number was performed and overflowed with heady playing and riveting interactions.
Rounding out the trio’s superb inaugural concert were the exquisite and lengthy interpretations of the Beatle’s very lyrical “She’s Leaving Home,” elevated by Mehldau’s delicate playing, and Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer’s “Come Rain or Come Shine.” The latter number was remarkably bolstered by McBride’s bluesy and poignant soloing that evoked enthusiastic voiced reactions from the audience.
After an impassioned standing ovation, the trio served up a sprightly version of Wayne Shorter’s “Angola.” It was wrought with exemplary playing and band interactions, including jolting tradeoffs featuring Gilmore’s impeccable drumming. For more info go to: www.bradmehldaumusic.com, www.christianmcbride.com, Instagram and laorpheum.com
Prior to the Pandemic, pianist Emmet Cohen, winner of the 2011 Phillips Piano Competition at the University of West Florida and the 2014 American Jazz Pianists Competition, and a finalist in the American Pianists Association’s Cole Porter Fellowship in 2011 and 2014, and also a finalist in the 2011 Thelonious Monk International Piano Competition was an emerging player on the New York jazz scene. Tenures and collaborations with vocalist Kurt Elling, saxophonist Jimmy Heath, bassist Christian McBride’s Tip City Trio and drummer Herlin Riley’s Quartet, along with being the Musical Director for singers Lea DeLaria, also a comedian and Veronica Swift further raised the pianist’s profile.
Notably, those involvements pale in comparison to Cohen’s incredible rise in world-wide popularity due to his weekly and still ongoing live stream concerts, Live From Emmet’s Place that take place in his Harlem apartment. High caliber musicians from around the tri-state area and those passing through sit in with the host’s trio and the results have been adventurous, magical and inspiring, leading to him recording several albums on the Mack Avenue label.
The pianist’s very free-wheeling and creative playing that spans all sub-genres of jazz with verve and inviting openness has been on road with his trio and landed in So Cal. One of the shows with bassist Yasushi Nakamura and drummer Joe Farnsworth was at the Segerstrom Center For The Arts’ Sameuli Theater. “Vibe Provider” a tribute to Cohen’s mentor DJ, A&R executive, andJazz at Lincoln Center Chief Programmer,Michael Funmi Ononaiye, who passed away in 2023 lit the fuse for the party with high flying dynamics and rhythms.
Unique to the Costa Mesa show were special guests, clarinetist/reedist Anat Cohen (not related to the bandleader) and trumpeter Terell Stafford, who never played together with the trio as a group. Needless to say, the powerhouse musicians brought incredible fervor to the concert venue with blazing playing and incredible cohesion. “Sweet Georgia Brown” was highlighted by the bandleader’s mix of ragtime, stride and straight-ahead soloing, and scorching band tradeoffs.
Ellington classic, “I’m Beginning to See The Light” was a fun jaunt and lightly competitive, intermixed with Latin and swing rhythms between clarinet and trumpet, with bass surprisingly stealing the show with deeply grooving soloing. While, “Up a Lazy River” was more straight-forward with superlative clarinet playing taking the audience back to the Benny Goodman era. Eternal hit “Caravan” was an explosion, musically speaking that soared with hot playing from all, including a smoking drum solo.
The final 15 minutes of the show was an elongated trad styled blues jam that showcased the incredible talents of the musicians individually and collectively to further delight the audience who clapped along. Unquestionably, Cohen’s daring spirit and incomparable abilities are a powerful combination guaranteed to ignite the passions of listeners everywhere. For more info go to: www.emmetcohen.com and www.scfta.org.
The Getty Museum’s Sounds of LA series recently presented two special concerts titled: Celebrating the Jazz Legacy of Altadena. They acknowledged all of the incredible jazz musicians living in the San Gabriel Mountains foothill suburb, bordering Pasadena, who experienced the horror and devastation of the Eaton Fire in January.
The concerts’ producer Quetzal Flores, leader/founder of the long-standing East LA Chicano/world music band bearing his name gave the opening remarks. He mentioned that Altadena’s mid 20th century development was a result of redlining, redevelopment and discrimination, which led to it becoming a sanctuary community, similar to Boyle Heights, Watts and many other towns in Southern California. They represent solidarity and resistance, and thrived despite the brutal conditions caused by racism.
Furthermore, Flores cited that the history of jazz in Altadena is a result of the efforts of Black people who formed that community and helped it survive, which drew applause. Winding things up, the producer stressed that the concert was a healing moment for the performing musicians and the audience. Additionally, he noted that trumpeter Bobby Bradford, who wasn’t able to be there was moved by the organizers’ efforts to make it happen.
The first concert included bassist Tony Dumas, pianist Quinn Johnson, drummer Joel Taylor and saxophonist Louis Van Taylor. They came swinging strongly with a hard-bop rendering of Pat Metheney’s “Timeline,” that was bolstered by all the bandmembers’ smoking solos. Understandably, the players slowed things down slightly with the Bobby Hutcherson’s popular jazz waltz piece “Little B’s Poem” featuring Van Taylor on flute and Dumas sumptuously soloing on bass.
The quartet also showcased some of their own music, beginning with Johnson’s slightly upbeat and thematic “Intermezzo.” It abounded with muscular playing from the saxophonist and intelligent motifs from the composer. Contrarily, Taylor the drummer’s “Door Crash Edition” was very upbeat and explosive, featuring hot drumming and roaring saxophone.
For a moment of reflection, the drummer introduced the somber and soprano saxophone driven ballad “Song of The Black Earth.” It came from his involvement with fusion guitarist Alan Holdsworth and Russian musicians prior to the invasion of Ukraine. The second concert on the following day featured The Bernie Maupin Ensemble. It consisted of Maupin-reeds, David Arnay-piano, Eric McKain-percussion, Darek Oles-bass and Kenny Sara-drums. For more info go to: www.getty.edu/
Saxophonist Ravi Coltrane recently performed at REDCAT with Adam Rogers-guitar, Cal-Arts classmate (1988) Scott Colley-bass and Jeff “Tain” Watts-drums. The special concert was in conjunction with the bandleader being the recent the Charlie Haden Artist-in-Residence at the California Institute of the Arts. Coltrane, graduated from the Valencia college in 1990 and has had a long relationship with it.
Also coinciding with the concert was the exhibition detailing his mother Alice Coltrane’s work, Monument Eternal at the Hammer Museum. Mother Coltrane’s music is part of the Cal-Arts’ curriculum and she received an honorary Doctorate Degree from the college in 2002. In 1990, Ravi wrote a tribute to her, “Dear Alice” that was featured on the school’s first jazz program album recorded at Capitol Records.
The REDCAT event’s music began with a gentle mood evoking piece recalling the solemn and meditative tonality of his legendary father John Coltrane through the original “Intervals.” It slowly evolved to a hard swinging bebop-like piece propelled by Watt’s thundering drumming and also included less intense sections featuring Rogers and Colley exploratively soloing. From there the quartet segued into a burst of Ornette Coleman’s lightly chaotic “Happy House.”
The band returned to radiating introspective playing during the thoughtful and crowd appealing ballad “For Turiya (Alice Coltrane’s spiritual name),” composed by her longtime friend and Cal-Arts jazz program founder (with David Roitstein), Charlie Haden. For a change of pace, the spry quartet shifted to the upbeat and bluesy number “Careful What You Wish For” that was loaded with the bandleader and cohort’s furious playing.
Closing out the incredibly engaging concert were homages to the saxophonist’s parents. For his father John, the title selection from his final album Expression in 1967. It was contemplative and clearly displayed the icon’s signature playing, while definitely also being Ravi’s. As for mother Alice, it was “Los Caballos” from her 1976 recording Eternity. Leading it off was a powerful solo drum intro that served as the driving force for the Eastern themed number as the bandleader on soprano saxophone with effects and band played intensely. For more info go to: ravicoltrane.com and www.redcat.org.
One of the well-kept secrets of the LA music and jazz community, and deserving more acclaim is native pianist/keyboardist/arranger/composer Karen Hammack. She’s worked with a bounty of artists such as Dee Dee Bridgewater, Diane Schuur, Madeline Eastman, Vinnie Colaiuta, Scott Colley, Cathy Segal-Garcia, Chris Conner, Dick Weller, Steve Cardenas and Kenny Wollesen, and additionally Mariane McSweeny, Eric Marienthal, Bob Shepherd, Ron Stout, Dawn Bishop, Gina Saputo, Melissa Manchester, Tierney Sutton, Kate McGarry, Michael McDonald, Larry Koonse, Judy Wexler, Julie Christensen, Cris Barber, Janiva Magness, Sweet Baby Jai, and Cynthia Jones.
The multi-talented artist has also served as the Music Director for Pearla Batalla, the Palm Springs Women’s Jazz Festival, Niki Haris and Amber Weekes. Hammack is also a solo artist and has released several albums, My Beating Heart, Lonesome Tree and Oh Beautiful Life, and is constantly composing new tunes. Additionally, she has written for movies, TV and commercials, including John Lacy’s film Rosebud Lane. Furthermore, Hammack is a dedicated educator and has taught at the Musicians Institute of Los Angeles, Los Angeles College of Music, Madeline Eastman’s JazzCampWest, Julie Kelly’s Jazz On The Hill Workshop and Bobby Rodriguiz’s Jazz Adventure, along with teaching privately at her home studio.
As part of singer/songwriter/actress/jazz gardener Susan Krebs’ Salon on Buffalo series, Hammack with longtime colleagues, bassist Putter Smith, drummer Paul Kreibich and tenor saxophonist Chuck Manning, mostly showcased her unrecorded originals. Lightly bossa-flavored “Walking Hand in Hand” with slight similarities to Freddie Hubbard’s “Little Sunflower” got the soiree started and was embellished by a swirling solo from Manning.
Vastly different was the mainstream piece “Feel It” that evoked the cool jazz vibe of the late ‘50s/early ‘60s. It featured the bandleader turning in swinging and masterful soloing, along with Smith and Kreibich driving things with hip and enticing cadences. Along the same lines was the group’s treatment of “Swing Low” that showcased the saxophonist reveling with heated support from the pianist and bandmates. Afterwards, the players and audience were all in good spirits and primed for a Latin-tinged version of “Sky Lark.” It resounded with stirring rhythmic playing and soloing from Hammack, along with a melodic solo from Smith.
Rejoice, was the title track from an earlier album by Hammack and thematic sounding with touches of gospel, jazz and rock, perfect for the band to coolly groove on. Soon to be released “Dusk” (the bandleader’s favorite time of day) was robust and hinted of McCoy Tyner with sweeping piano runs and powerful rhythms, garnered by soulful Eddie Harris-like saxophone playing, pulsing bass layering and a scorching drum solo. Bringing the enjoyable outing to a close was “G Blues.” The number showcased the pianist and bands’ jumping blues/jazz prowess, which had the crowd joyfully bopping along. For more info go to: www.karenhammack.com and susankrebsmusic.com.
Lynne Arriale, an extremely talented and versatile pianist/composer who doesn’t perform in So Cal often enough, and recently appeared at the Grape in Ventura with her trio. It included bassist Alon Near and drummer Alon Benjamini. Arriale, a humanitarian and Professor of Jazz Studies and Director of Small Ensembles at The University of North Florida, is strongly affected by the tumultuous times we presently live in. Her newest recording is titled Being Human and from it contemporary flowing “Passion” was dedicated to the Swiss activist Greta Thunberg and “Courage” to the people of Ukraine.
Changing the pace and atmosphere was the also new “Curiosity,” an abstract/modern classical piece, while “Faith” was gospel/blues flavored and imbued with soulful playing and soloing from the bassist to draw strong applause. He and the drummer continued with an intro for the older classical/romantic number “Dance of The Rain,” which showcased the beautiful aspects of Arriale’s playing. In the same light, was Abdullah Ibrahim’s “Mountain of The Night,” a favorite that she regularly includes in her shows. Somewhat related to Ibrahim’s music was the jubilant calypso themed “Joy” that was enhanced with a thundering drum solo and garnered with notable crowd reactions.
Diverging from South African and Caribbean music, her formidable mainstream chops came to forefront during a super swinging interpretation of “I Hear a Rhapsody.” Bass and drums also flew high during their respective solos and tradeoffs, and into new piece “Heart.” It was dedicated to a nurse in Ukraine who urged everyone there to maintain their humanity.
“Journey” from Arriale’s Chimes of Freedom had some resemblance to McCoy Tyner’s assaulting modal stye and was impressively engaging. The same could be said for her super cool, bebop styled original “Slightly Off Center,” which she admitted was somewhat autobiographical. For a respite, the bandleader conjured hardbop bluesy “Soul” dedicated to poet Amanda Gorman, with bassist Near injecting a deeply resonating solo. For soulfulness from a different perspective, the bandleader soothed the audience with a calming version of the Beatles’ “Let It Be.”
The trio returned to a jazz context with “Persistence,” dedicated to the Pakistani human rights activist and Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai. The compositionwas also full of modal and harmonically rich piano playing, and explosive drumming. Fast tempo groove styled “Over And Out” concluded the expansive show and clearly demonstrated that Arialle can cover a wide variety of styles and easily can play all night. For more info go to: www.lynnearriale.com and thegrapeventura.com.
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